• Kalonzo said the scandal has caused much pain to the already overtaxed Kenyans
• Wamalwa said corruption and tribalism are entrenched in the government
Image: SHABAN OMAR
Azimio coalition-allied party leaders now want Agriculture CS Mithika Linturi to resign over the saga of fake fertilisers.
Addressing the pressin Kwale county yesterday, Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka and his DAP-K counterpart Eugene Wamalwa said the Kenya Kwanza government must consider firing Linturi.
Kalonzo said the scandal has caused much pain to the already overtaxed Kenyans.
“If the government is serious about fighting corruption, the CS for Agriculture would have been home by now,” he said.
The Wiper leader alleged that the government has failed to take action against the CS because it is part and parcel of the problem.
Kalonzo said the subsidised fertiliser programme is a scheme meant to drain Kenyan farmers’ money in the name of helping them.
“The entire thing is a scam. Why promise people cheap fertilisers and give them donkey poop mixed with stones?” he said.
Kalonzo said it is high time the government of the day starts addressing issues of corruption and tribalism with great concern.
The Wiper leader said the rate at which corrupt individuals are getting immunity has reached alarming levels.
He said Kenyans are tired of lies and the high cost of living has become a burden.
Kalonzo said forcing Kenyans to pay for citizenship is unjustifiable.
He claimed it is a plot to rig elections since many youth would be unable to pay for their national identity cards.
Kalaonzo demanded that all young people who have attained 18 years and above be allowed to register as Kenyans for free and unconditionally because it is their constitutional right.
Wamalwa said the subsidised fertiliser programme has been hijacked by corrupt individuals whose aim is to do money laundering.
He said all the people involved in the fake fertiliser deal must be arrested and charged in court.
The DAP-K leader said Linturi must go home for pretending that everything is okay yet farmers are suffering.
Last week, Linturi rubbished claims of fake fertilisers, adding that the government supplies certified products to the farmers.
He termed the accusations a mere propaganda spread by the opposition.
Wamalwa said the government promised farmers bumper harvests and minimum losses, yet they are supplied with substandard farm inputs.
“How are the farmers going to achieve food security when we allow wash-wash people to supply them with fake fertiliser and seeds?” he asked.
He said 80 per cent of Kenyans earn a livelihood through agriculture, and that fake fertilisers would deny them income and risk taking the country into a food-insecure situation.
He said corruption and tribalism are entrenched in the Kenya Kwanza administration, adding that the country was recently listed among the most corrupt in the world.
Wamalwa said as Azimio leaders, they will continue to fight for Kenyans to end endemic corruption and tribalism in the country.
Makueni MP Susan Kiambaa said the heightened supply of fake fertilisers is dehumanising Kenyans.
She said it is a great disappointment for the government to trick farmers on matters of fertilisers.
Kiambaa said the situation has affected women, who comprise the majority of Kenyan farmers.
She said Linturi should be fired because of the long-term effects the farmers will have as a result of fake fertilisers.
Kiambaa said the Kenya Kwanza government should have mercy on its citizens who are already burdened by the forced deduction of the housing levies.
She also called for equal national resource allocation and an end to tribalism.
Kiambaa said Kenyans are deliberately being marginalised in employment, citing the KRA recruitment that was disqualified.
The lawmaker said Kenyans have a right to enjoy the services and in the same manner they contribute taxes.